Porto

Monverde Wine Experience Hotel has been a long time affair of mine ever since I visited it for the first time, in 2016. Quite unsurprisingly, this stunning and picturesque wine hotel was the regional winner of the “Sustainable Wine Tourism Practices” category of the Best Of Wine Tourism 2018 awards, following on from winning the “Accommodation” category in 2017.

There are never enough excuses to pay a visit to the enchanted Douro Valley, one of the most prominent wine regions in the world. Therefore I was very glad to accept the invitation of CoolTour Oporto, the regional winner of the “Wine Tourism Services” category of the Best of Wine Tourism 2018 awards, to go on a group guided tour to the Douro Valley.

Porto Calém Wine Cellars recently won the Best Innovative Wine Tourism Experience of Portugal award. It was presented by the Best Of Wine Tourism 2018 Awards, an event organized by the Great Wine Capitals Global Network. They were kind enough to fly me to Portugal in order to see the fancy new High Tech exhibition that has won them so many awards.

The Monverde Wine Experience Hotel, hidden in the golden vineyards of the Green Wine Region, was the regional winner of the “Accommodation” category of the Best of Wine Tourism 2017 awards. Opened less than two years ago it has quickly become a worldwide reference in Wine Tourism.

Filipe Morato Gomes enjoyed the perfect day trip to the beautiful Douro region - by van, boat and train and finally to Quinta do Bomfim where the port winemaking process was expertly explained. This experience was organized by Sara Dias of 'Oporto & Douro Moments. It's not surprising that 'Moments' won a Best Of Wine Tourism' award for Services in 2016!

Quinta da Boeira, a magnificent estate in Vila Nova de Gaia, across the douro from Porto, is a lovingly restored 19th century estate built by a Portuguese man who emigrated to Brazil. Today it is a center devoted to remembering the Portuguese ships that sailed the seven seas in voyages of discovery, to wine and to art.

After all my journeys, I know that Porto has a way of being special, emanating a strong sense of belonging and identity. There live an open-hearted, creative and hard working people, still following the motto Talent de bien faire, already put into practice by our ancestor Prince Henrique The Navigator in the XV century, when Portuguese became the first great discoverers of the unknown world. Today the world looks back at us and begins to discover our own treasures...

This article, submitted by Porto-based blogger Francisco Brito, participated in the 2014 Guest Bloggers' program sponsored by the Great Wine Capitals Global Network.

A memorable Port tasting was led by Luiz Antunes of Wine Magazine (http://www.revistadevinhos.pt), with the presence of João Nicolau de Almeida, David Guimaraens, Jorge Rosas and Matthew Nicolau de Almeida.